性瘾者

“Too bad I’m not asking for your permission,” Neoma said when Calyx confronted her. “I’ll leave the nobles to you. I have a press conference I need to attend.”

She turned her back on Calyx, ready to leave the hall.

Of course, her children blocked the fake First Prince from approaching her again. Paige, Jeno, and Xion stopped Calyx. The three children were enough to deal with Calyx’s personal knights.

Greko, Juri, and Lewis, on the other hand, followed her.

Then she saw Nero approaching her with a angry strides while Hanna and his knights followed behind.

[My baby brother is furious, naturally.]

Lewis tried to stop Nero, but Sanford and Raku immediately got in the way. Then Juri, the Tanker of the team, immediately backed up Lewis.

[Oh, they’re gonna brawl, aren’t they?]

.....

“Children, it’s alright,” Neoma said. “Let my brother through.”

Only then did Lewis and Juri step aside.

Sanford and Raku also made way for Nero.

“What do you think you’re doing, you pesky princess?” Nero growled at her lowly. “You’re dragging me to hell with you after you told me you love me?”

“I’m doing this because I love you, Nero,” Neoma said sincerely. “I won’t let you become the person you’d hate once your memories returned.”

Nero raised his hands as if he wanted to grab her. But it looked like it took all that he got to stop himself from doing that. Hence, he ended up clenching his hands tight. “Do you really want to see me go crazy?”

“It’s nothing new, my dear brother,” she said. “Everyone already knows that the de Moonasterios are insane.”

“Neoma!”

“Don’t yell at your noona,” she scolded Nero, then he patted his shoulders. “Don’t worry. None of this is your fault.”

Nero frowned, obviously displeased by her nonchalance. “You–”

“Yes, me. Catch you later, Nero,” Neoma said, walking past her twin brother. “Let’s go.”

Vespera didn’t waste time and used what he had to: teleport Neoma and her “children” to the People’s Palace.

***

IT WAS a disastrous banquet.

“Prince Calyx, Prince Nero, what is going on here?”

“We deserve to know the truth!”

“How can you just stand there and not give an explanation?”

[These arrogant nobles…]

Calyx wasn’t too worried because the fact that Princess Neoma revealed would only harm her and Nero.

But Nero was the Crown Prince.

Hence, the crows would do everything to protect their chosen emperor.

[Moreover, my mother is the most senior member of the Royal Family. Her Majesty has the right to put all the blame on Princess Neoma in order to protect Nero.]

They had the upper hand.

And yet, Calyx still felt nervous.

[They’re calm.]

The Sun Priestess, the Moon Priest, the High Priest, and the new saint.

The Quinzels.

The Griffiths of the Hazelden Kingdom.

The representatives of the Kingdom of Suoh.

Jasper Hawthorne.

Even the elusive Northern Lords were quiet.

“Lucien!”

Hearing Nero’s shout snapped Calyx out of his trance.

“That damned princess probably went to the People’s Palace,” Nero said to Lucien, the demon mage, in a hurry. “Take me there!”

Lucien immediately bowed his head towards his raging master. “As you command, Prince Nero.”

And, just like that, Nero and his personal knights disappeared.

The nobles ganged up on Calyx now, but he just ignored them.

After all, the raging nobles couldn’t approach him thanks to Owen and Rowena.

“What should we do, Calyx?” Regina whispered to him when she approached him. “Princess Neoma completely blindsided us just when we thought we finally trapped her.”

And now, nobody was paying attention to the two half-saints.

[Princess Neoma sure knows how to make a scene.]

“I’ll follow Nero for now and see what Princess Neoma is up to,” Calyx whispered back to Regina. “For now, go to Mother and inform her about what happened here after she left the hall.”

***

THE PEOPLE’S Palace.

Neoma remembered standing on the balcony of the People’s Palace when she was posing as Nero.

[Papa Boss and I greeted the citizens here during the Moon Festival.]

But now, she was standing on the balcony and greeting hundreds of citizens as Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio.

[Vespera did a good job summoning the commoners here.]

Of course, Papa Boss’ Soul Beasts were the one who opened the Royal Gates and took care of the guards (they did not kill anyone, promise).

The Soul Beasts weren’t around anymore.

[They have another job to do.]

Ah, Neoma suddenly missed her father.

Papa Boss wasn’t with her on the balcony of the People’s Palace this time, but she wasn’t alone.

Lewis and her other “children” were behind her.

Tteokbokki and Vespera were standing on either of her side.

[And I can feel Nero coming.]

“Princess Neoma, I just received a word from Emperor Nikolai’s Soul Beasts,” Paige whispered behind her. “They have already installed all the cameras we prepared in the Royal Capital, and in all the major cities in the empire.”

Yep, that was one of the errands that her Papa Boss’ Soul Beasts had run for her.

“I can activate the cameras any time you wish, Your Royal Highness,” Paige added politely. “If you give me a signal, I’ll activate them right away.”

Neoma looked over her shoulder and winked at Paige. “Lezzgo.”

Paige smiled and nodded.

After that, she turned to the curious and whispering citizens with a solemn look on her face. She needed to appear sane for tonight, at least.

[Anyway…]

A few seconds after giving the signal to Paige, two semi-transparent screens appeared on either of her side.

The screens were there so the people at the further back could see her clearly.

Paige also used a spell to amplify Neoma’s voice.

[My “daughter” is really great.]

“Good evening, people of the Great Moonasterion Empire,” Neoma greeted the citizens in a calm and polite voice befitting a princess like her. She was just actually copying Hanna’s manner of speaking. After all, her normal way of talking was too arrogant– er, modern-ish. “I’m glad and honored to finally greet you as Neoma Roseheart and not as the fake Prince Nero that you’ve met several years ago.”

Naturally, the people’s confusion increased.

She could hear and make sense of what most of the citizens were saying.

.....

“What does it mean?”

“I really didn’t understand…”

“Is the royal princess saying that we’ve already met her as… Prince Nero?”

“Then does it mean she pretended as the Crown Prince?”

“But how?”

“I am Nero’s older twin sister,” Neoma explained politely. “When Nero and I were kids, you wouldn’t be able to tell us apart because we look so alike.”

Again, the whispers among the commoners grew louder.

“Now that I’m looking closely at the large screen, Princess Neoma really looks like Prince Nero.”

“Yes, I can tell that they’re really twins.”

“Why did they hide such a beautiful princess from us?”

Neoma smiled shyly. But, of course, she was just acting. She was never shy every time her beauty was praised.

“Princess Neoma, I apologize for interrupting, but I’ll get going now,” Xion whispered in a hurried voice. “There are crows mixed in the crowd, and I can smell Mana bombs in them.”

Ah, so the crows’ strategy was to create chaos to interrupt her by hurting the citizens.

[Disgusting bastards.]

“I’ll go with Xion and take care of the crows quietly, Princess Neoma.”

It was Jeno.

Neoma nodded her subtly.

Then Xion and Jeno left in silence. The two had Teleportation Tickets with them. Moreover, Jeno could use his mist to hide his and Xion’s presence.

[I have to end this quickly for the safety of these innocent people.]

“I can’t tell you the full story yet, but Nero was attacked by assassins when we were kids. It caused my poor twin brother to fall into a comatose state,” Neoma continued in a clear and firm voice. “Hence, my father– the former Emperor Nikolai– asked me to pretend as Nero.”

A collective gasp was heard from the huge crowd.

Of course, the whispers grew louder once again.

“The real Crown Prince almost died when he was still a young kid?”

“We almost lost our Crown Prince then…”

“I understand the situation, but I still feel deceived.”

“Me, too. I can’t believe the Royal Family deceived us for so long…”

[Yep, I already expected these reactions.]

“I volunteer to attend a trial to explain my side.”

The collective gasp this time was louder than the previous one.

“Oh, my. A princess attending a trial?”

“This will be a first time in a century that a direct member of the Royal Family would attend the court…”

“And Her Royal Highness is doing it voluntarily, at that.”

Neoma smiled apologetically to the citizens. “This is shameless of me, but I’d like to invite everyone to witness the trial.”

Again, the citizens were confused.

After all, most of the trials that involved the nobles were never opened to the public. Hence, an open trial that involved a royalty might have sounded unbelievable to them.

But she was serious.

By hook or by crook, she’d force the Twelve Golden Families to open the trial publicly.

“Even though the Royal Family has a reason for making me pretend as Nero, it doesn’t change the fact that we deceived you,” Neoma said, then she paused and shook her head. “I, Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio, deceived the people of the empire. For that, I’m truly sorry.” She bowed her head in sincere apology. “I hope you forgive me one day, our precious citizens.”

The collective gasp that she heard this time was softer.

She could tell that the people were in disbelief.

“The royal princess is bowing to us…”

“And Her Royal Highness apologized…”

“This is the first time a de Moonasterio bowed and apologized to their people!”

“But the royal princess doesn’t have to do this…”

“We don’t deserve this kind of treatment since we’re just commoners…”

Neoma felt a shiver down her spine when Nero’s bloodlust hit the back of her head.

[Ah, he’s already here, huh?]

“Commoner or not, you deserve an apology from anyone who wronged you,” Neoma said, raising her head. Then she smiled apologetically at the people. “Thank you for taking time listening to me tonight, our precious people. Please get home safely. And I hope to see you all during the trial.” She waved her hand weakly. “Good night, everyone.”

After saying her goodbye, Neoma slightly bowed her head again before turning her back on the shocked citizens.

Her “children” followed her while the curtains behind them closed.

“Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio,” Nero growled lowly, his glowing red eyes shooting daggers at her. “By the power given to me as the Crown Prince of the Great Moonasterion Empire, I shall place you under arrest for tarnishing the reputation of the Royal Family!”

“We don’t have a reputation to protect since everyone already knows we’re fucked up in the head, Nero,” Neoma said, offering both of her hands to Nero. “I surrender, though.”

***

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